INSIDE THE ROPES: DAY 2 AT THE WOMEN'S OPEN

David Decker (left) of Bethlehem is a rules official for the USGA. He has achieved the highest rating at PGA/USGA rules workshops and has officiated at 14 USGA Championships, including six U.S. Opens, three Senior Opens, and now a Women’s Open.

This week David is serving as a rules official at the US Women’s Open at Saucon Valley Country Club. Each day he and the other officials are assigned to escort a group of players around the course, being available to answer rules questions that arise during play.

In our SportsTalk blog, he will write through the championship about his experiences.

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Had a another great day out on the course.

Christina Kim was great to be with even though she felt like she struggled. As we were walking to the scoring tent, she said to me, "this course kicked my butt today."

My favorite quote of the day came when one of my players on 12 said, after a mighty swipe through the rough, "They don't let the players use steroids. They shouldn't be able to feed them to the grass!"

Of course this was said in jest!

Brittany Lang hits the ball harder than just about anyone here this week. She just kills it!

And last but certainly not least: Ji Young Oh from Korea played very solid, very strong golf. I'm pretty sure she was 1-under for the day and hit the ball out with Brittany most of the day.

Right now we are trying to figure out if the cut will be +8 or +9. The top 60 move on to the weekend.

I only had one ruling today, Christina Kim hit the ball into the lateral water hazard on 14 and then proceeded to put her next shot on the green over the trees.

It was a crazy shot. A hole later, she said her caddie persuaded her to hit it rather than just chipping out.

See you all tomorrow.

Dave Decker

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(Posted earlier today) Good morning.

A couple points as we start Day 2.

First, the weather is perfect again. Blue skies and a slight breeze are making for just the right conditions for a tough test of golf. The greens will be the main defence for the course, just like usual.

And second, at 11:04 they updated the scoreboard where we are watching play on the 14th hole, and at this point there is not one red score for anyone on the course. There are a few people under par that haven't started their round yet, but it wouldn't shock me at all if no one was under par going to the weekend.

That is good news for the field, of course, because anyone within 10 strokes of the leader will play this weekend.

I don't go out until this afternoon. Today my group will have only two players because we had a player withdraw in the middle of her round yesterday.

I will be with Christina Kim from California (who is at +1) and Ji Yun Oh from Korea (who is at +5).

This is one of the groups that will be on TV a bunch today, so if you don't see me ... that's a good thing. That means that there are no rulings.